Digital game sales up 17% in December - Superdata
Research firm finds gamers worldwide spent nearly $10 billion on games as Call of Duty: World War II and Grand Theft Auto Online break records
With financial earnings season just around the corner, there are continuing indications that 2017 ended on a high note for the games industry. Superdata today released its monthly digital sales report, saying that December's worldwide digital revenues in gaming jumped 17% year-over-year to nearly $10 billion.
The firm attributed the growth to the premium PC, console, and mobile markets, which were up 28%, 15%, and 27%, respectively. As for specific titles, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds had a banner month with its Xbox One launch selling 2 million copies in its debut month, while fast followers Fortnite, Knives Out, and Rules of Survival all performed well on their respective platforms. Fortnite Battle Royale in particular earned $89 million in December, the firm said.
Call of Duty: WWII also continued to do well, setting a new record for most digital unit sales of a console title in a single quarter, according to Superdata. Meanwhile Grand Theft Auto Online continued to raise its own bar, with December seeing the four-year-old game enjoy a record month of revenue, topping the mark it set last June.